Science in Sport Winter Academy - I'm In!

Nine people in the UK have been picked by the sports nutrition company Science In Sport to receive help with their winter training. Amazingly I am one of the nine.

They wanted amateur 'athletes' covering a range of abilities, sports and ages. Liz sniggered at the word 'athlete' being applied to me.

I imagined the selection meeting: "Right we've picked eight athletes, now we need someone middle-aged and keen but not particularly good. A mister average to give hope to the also-rans". I was probably in that pile.

We receive some SiS products each month until February, which is good as I use SiS energy drink, gels and bars on longer rides. But that's not the big appeal for me.

What I will value most is the promised access to their 'experts'. Again, I'm not sure how this will work or from whom we'll receive input.

And I'm already a few steps down the road. I learnt a lot about nutrition from Kelli Jennings' excellent eBook. I've been tested by Sportstest so my winter base training is concentrated in a precise heart rate zone.

But I still need to know more.

* I want to know how to tweak my training schedule for weeks when winter weather dictates when I can ride. Can the Academy help, or do I need a trainer?

* How do I incorporate weights and core exercises specific to cycling. Again, perhaps that's one for a trainer.

* How do I fuel all this correctly without overeating.

* Most of all, I need strategies to stop me snacking after 8pm!

Part of the deal with the SiS Winter Academy is that we write regular blog posts and tell them how things are going. They may or may not use this in their promotions. Fair enough.

Occasionally I'll write about it here but it won't dominate this blog. This will remain a rather eclectic corner devoted to cycling, sea kayaking a life in the Scottish highlands. As it says on the tin.